II. The Impact of Her

~ Sixteen ~

I groaned as I heard a voice that I didn't want to hear for the rest of the night.

"What is it that you want, Mallory?" I asked as I approached Lady.

"How can you end our relationship like that?!" she ranted as she walked up to me. She continued, "We had a deal, Robert. And now, all of a sudden, you ended it for no reason?!"

I sighed before I turned to face her. "It's for your own good, Mallory."

"I don't care what you think is good for me!" she threw her hands in the air, like a child who was upset because she didn't get her way. She grabbed hold of my arms and added, "All I want is you."

Removing her hands, I replied, "I don't want you the same way that you want me. From the very beginning, the relationship that we had was doomed to harm us.

She shook her head as I explained away, clearly not wanting to accept my words.

I continued, "It's better to end it now than to hurt somebody else if we proceed with it."

I grabbed my waterskin and walked back inside the castle. I didn't even bother to turn and see if she was all right. She has done enough damage for today. I didn't want more of her idiocy to destroy the rest of my night.

~*~*~*~

As I walked through the empty hallway of the castle, I was shocked that Gonzalo was already waiting for me. "Good evening, young prince," he greeted as he followed closely behind me.

"Good evening, Gonzalo," I replied as I handed my water container to him. "Is there anything that I missed during my absence?"

"As of the moment, there is nothing, Your Highness," he answered quickly.

"What is the plan for tonight's dinner?"

"According to what I heard, meat will be the focus of tonight's course, as requested by His Majesty. However, your family won't be joining you for dinner," he explained as we made a right turn to another corridor.

I came to a halt and asked, "And why is that?"

"His Majesty is still in his study. He said he has a lot of things to look into. Her Highness took an early rest as she was dizzy for the remainder of the day. Her Majesty proceeded to sleep as well," Gonzalo replied.

Mother slept early? That was a bit odd. Most of the time, when James was working in his study, Mother would accompany him. She never allowed him to be alone at night.

"Kindly bring my food to my room. I will go ahead and see if Mother is fine," I instructed.

"As you wish, Your Highness," he bowed quickly and we went our separate ways.

~*~*~*~

Once I arrived at the door of the main quarters, I knocked thrice. But there was no response. Carefully, I entered the room and there was Mother, already in bed as a maid attended to her.

"Mother?" I called out as I closed the door behind me.

She opened her eyes and immediately looked in my direction. "Hello, dear one," she smiled.

I walked towards her and knelt by her side upon reaching her bedside.

"Kindly leave us for a while, Dehlia," Mother instructed her maid. The lady bowed and grabbed the nearby basin of water. "Is there something wrong, my son?" Mother asked as soon as Dehlia left the room. "Do you need anything?"

I smiled as she asked questions. She was always a mother before a queen. "Mother, I should be the one asking you those questions," I replied after a chuckle.